Revealed
by Holy Chaos
Summary: Rei's Grandfather has been on the hunt for the true identites of the Sailor Senshi for quite some time now and he's finally discovered the truth. Just how will the Senshi react when their families find out their hidden identities. New rating for language
1. Prologue

Sailor Moon Revealed

Prologue

                Hino Amuro waved cheerfully to his granddaughter as she walked down the long series of steps that fronted the Hikawa shrine, heading for the nearby bus stop. Once she was out of sight, he let the cheerful grin drop from his face and headed back into the shrine. With Rei gone, he was alone, at least for the next few hours, his erstwhile apprentice, Yuuichiro off visiting family for at least the next week and business being slow, as it usually was this time of year. The summer heat seemed to put people off visiting a shrine whose central feature was a sacred fire, even if very few people actually visited the fire. Still, he wasn't about to complain, as this meant that he would be free to work on a private project at least until Rei got home. His granddaughter's presence would put a most effective damper on his research.

                He gave Rei a moment or two, just in case she had forgotten something, but he heard the bus pull in and then pull out again, so he headed back inside with a sense of safety. He headed to his room and pulled back the tatami mats that covered the floor, revealing a carefully concealed panel. If you didn't know what to look for, the floor seemed to be one piece, worn smooth by generations of feet walking over it and restless sleepers tossing and turning above it. The thin line that showed the outline of the panel was barely visible to the naked eye and it was only by chance that Amuro had discovered when he had been but an apprentice at the shrine. One difficulty in using the space beneath the panel as a hiding place for things you'd rather leave undiscovered was that, in order for it to be well concealed, the panel was set flush to the floor and there was no obvious way of lifting it. Actually there was no way at all of lifting it that wouldn't in some way damage the floor, unless of course one was possessed of certain less than common talents.

                Amuro, like most of the Hino's before him was possessed of psychic talents, just like his granddaughter, though unfortunately it had skipped a generation with his son. That made Rei's great strength even more gratifying, as if what ever kami granted the Hino's that power was making up for the lapse. Of course, even when the powers didn't skip a generation, they manifested differently from person to person, even in the same generation. Rei's power lay more in the manipulation of the spiritual plane. Her ofuda were quite powerful and her fire readings had nearly a one hundred percent accuracy rate and most of the inaccuracies could be put down to misinterpretations of the visions. Amuro's powers, nowhere near as great as Rei's, lay in the manipulation of the physical plane. He had decent telekinetic powers, though it normally took a great deal of focus or moments of extreme stress for him to use them to their full potential, and he also had some small skill in healing, one of the reasons he was still so fit at his age.

                It was his telekinetic abilities that meant that he could lift the panel in the floor and since it wasn't that heavy, it wasn't all that hard to lift it just far enough so that he could grasp it with his fingers. He cleared his mind as his own grandfather had taught him and focused on the hidden panel. It took several moments, but at last if shifted from its position and lifted up enough that Amuro was able to get the tips of his fingers underneath and lift it up and put it to one side with conventional muscle power. It had been much harder the first time he had tried it, partly because he didn't have as good a grasp on his powers back then as he did now and partly because the panel itself had been stuck. Now, with the dirt cleaned out from around the edges the panel moved much more freely.

                Once he had put the panel down, close to the hole, in case he had to close it back up in a hurry and pulled out his research materials. Most of it was clippings from the various papers published in Juuban, some of the earlier ones from respected publications, but most of the more recent ones from the Juuban Questioner, a notorious tabloid magazine. Bad as its reputation was though, it was just about the only publication still running articles on the topic he was researching, the Sailor Senshi. Along with the news articles, he also pulled out several sketches made by Juuban Police Department's best sketch artist, the images being put together with the help of eyewitnesses, one name featuring prominently among them being Osaka Naru. The reason the sketches were necessary was that it appeared to be impossible to get a good picture of the Senshi, even if they were standing still. No one was quite certain why that was, but it had made Amuro's research just that much harder and it was only because he had a few friends in the police force who owed him a favour or two that he was able to get his hands on the sketches.

                Amuro had had suspicions about his granddaughter's change in behaviour almost from the beginning. As much as he loved her, the kami knew that Rei had her faults, including a temper and a tongue that could be used to sharpen a katana, and that made it difficult for her to make friends and keep them. Yet Usagi and Ami, then Makoto and Minako had stuck by her side, through thick and thin. This in itself wasn't that suspicious, but there was more to it. The unexplained absences, the secretive behaviour, the way that often all conversation in the room stopped the instant his presence was realised. The strange cats with the crescent moon scars on their foreheads. Also on more than one occasion, Rei had said that she was heading to one of her friend's houses, only not only was she not there when he rang to check, her friend was out as well. That probably wasn't that odd, happening on one occasion, but it had happened more than once. He had kept quite though and added it to his growing pile of suspicions. Now the suspicions were beginning to bear fruit and if all went well, he would soon have his answer.

                Carefully he spread the accumulated material out over the floor of his room and opened an old leather bound book in his lap. In this book he had distilled down all the important information that he had gleaned from the articles and it was also where he kept the police sketches. He had mulled over this information for several months and while he was sure that he was right, that was only a gut feeling and he didn't have enough proof to act on his suspicions. But now he had one piece of evidence that could prove his suspicions once and for all. It had cost him nearly every favour he could call in with his police contacts to get it, and strictly speaking, it wasn't entirely legal for him to have it. But he wasn't about to let that stop him. From the back of the book he extracted a plain, white, envelope and carefully removed the sole object from within.

                The ofuda had shown signs of wear and was a little singed around the edges, but that wasn't enough to obscure the characters written on the front. Nor was the physical state truly important. What was important was that it had once been used by the Senshi known as Sailor Mars and if Amuro was right it would prove that the Senshi of Flame and War was none other than his own granddaughter. Carefully laying the used ofuda in front of him, he pulled an unused one that he had swiped from Rei's store right after he had received the used one from the police evidence locker. He placed the new slip of paper side by side with its used counterpart and looked at the closely. The designs on the front were identical, but there were only so many ways to make an ofuda, no matter how good the maker was. The characters looked like that had been painted with the same hand as well, but that meant very little. So did the ofuda that he made, since he was the one who had taught Rei how to make them and it was only obvious that their styles would appear very similar. But one thing that could not be duplicated was the spirit that was essential for the making the ofuda work and that was something that was unique, even with identical twins. If he couldn't tell if the used ofuda had belonged to Rei or not, he could resort to the sacred fire, though that would destroy both ofuda and it was a last resort.

                Carefully Amuro extended one hand over each of the ofuda and willed himself into a trancelike, meditative state. This wasn't his strongest skill, but he wasn't completely incompetent either. Once he was fully relaxed, he reached out with his psychic senses and looked carefully at the auras of both ofuda. The new one was bright and crisp, with a sense of crackling flame and great heat and was Rei's for certain. The other was harder to tell. Time and use had made the original aura fade to but a pale shadow of its former strength and that was overlain by the foul, noxious aura of whatever evil that it had been used on. But slowly Amuro was able to reach past that foulness and touch the original aura and though it was weaker, there was still that sense of crackling flames and great heat. His eyes flew open and the meditative state slipped from his grasp as the full realisation hit him. He was right. He was right and Rei was Sailor Mars. That left almost no doubt that her friends were the other Senshi. Usagi had to be Sailor Moon; there couldn't be two blondes in Japan with that same hairstyle. Similarly, Makoto's height and strength meant that she had to be Sailor Jupiter, which left Minako as Sailor Venus and Ami as Sailor Mercury. He wasn't quite so certain about identities of those referred to the Outer Senshi, but he had a few suspicions on that score as well. 

                As he tried to grasp the full implications of what he had just discovered, he gazed over the room. All his painstaking research now meant very little. The ofuda was all the proof he needed and there was no way that Rei would be able to wiggle out of it. Still, he gathered it all up and replaced it carefully in its hidey hole. While he had no need of it, it could be used to convince the parents of the other girls. Then it struck him like the proverbial thunderbolt from the heavens. The other parents also deserved to know about what their daughters were doing. So did his son he supposed, but he was Rei's full time guardian, so that wasn't that important. What was important was that the other families had no idea what those girls were getting up to and they deserved to know.

                He was about to dash off and grab the phone, before stopping and deciding on a plan of attack. Usagi's mother was a full time housewife, as was Minako's, so it should present very little difficulty in contacting them. Makoto, as far as he knew, lived alone and had never mentioned any form a guardian, so that was probably a moot point. He also knew that Ami's parents were divorced and that Ami hadn't seen her father for several years, so it would do no good to ring him. Her mother was a doctor though and frequently worked unusual hours. Getting hold of her could prove difficult and he didn't want to alert Ami to his suspicions. Then he remembered Ami mentioning her working at Tokyo General. He would try there first, and if it turned out she wasn't at work he could always try at her home later. Best to pass it off as a medical question though, just to be one the safe side. He gave that another few moments thought and then headed off to the phone. This could prove to be a very interesting few days.

End Prologue.

Author's Notes:

This fic is inspired mainly by Mark Shutleff's 'Relatively Absent'. One scene has Ikuko (Usagi's mother) walking in just as Usagi transforms back to her normal self from Sailor Moon and then Luna barging in and talking, not realising that Ikuko is present. This started me thinking about how the Senshi's parents would react if they ever found out their daughters are the Sailor Senshi and thus this fic is born. It will also be mostly with the Inner Senshi, though the Outer Senshi will make appearances. The reason is basically that the Inners give more material to work with; where as with the Outers it's a moot point to Setsuna and Professor Tomoe's mind is so swiss-cheesed that he probably wouldn't even remember if you told him, leaving only Harkua and Michiru, where as the Inners the only moot issue is Makoto who is an orphan with no known guardian. If you want to place it in the timeline, this is after Stars, but before the Inner Senshi have finished high school.

Comments and valid criticisms are welcome, though please note the spelling is Australian English which generally (but not always) follows the conventions of British English. Flames will be saved for winter, because I feel the cold and can always do with something to warm me up.


	2. Chapter 1

Sailor Moon Revealed:

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is the property of the talented Takeuchi Naoko-sensei who deserves full credit for creating the world in which Sailor Moon exists. I make no claim to the characters and no profit is being made from this work. As no information exists on Minako parents (that I know of) and very little about Ami's, I'm making them up as I go along.

                Tsukino Ikuko smiled to herself as she surveyed her house and decided that it was spotless. The floors had buffed, the carpets had vacuumed, the rugs had been aired and now smelled of fresh air and sunshine, the bathroom gleamed white enough to blind the unwary and the kitchen was clean enough to impress even a professional restraunter. The only possible flaws lay in the rooms belonging to her two children, both of which looked like disaster areas but which Ikuko considered none of her business. It was up to Usagi and Shingo to clean their rooms and she wasn't going to do it for them. 

Happy with a job well done, she looked up at the clock and was surprised to see that it was still early. She had a few hours to herself before her husband or her children returned home. She pondered what to do with herself for all of a minute before grinning and sneaking up to the second floor and retrieving one manga from her private collection. Technically they were just romance manga, but they were rather ecchi. They weren't full blown hentai, but they were highly suggestive and Ikuko didn't get to read them as often as she liked. They were a guilty pleasure and one she planned to indulge in while she had some time to herself. She had just put one foot on the bottom step when she was interrupted by the shrill ring of the phone.

                Ikuko swore silently to herself and detoured to pick the phone up; wishing that whoever was calling had waited an hour or so. Still no hint of that coloured her voice as she picked up the receiver and spoke. "Moshi-moshi. Tsukino residence."

                "Ah, Tsukino-san, I was hoping to catch you at home," Hino Amuro replied and Tsukino blinked in surprise. She had met Rei's grandfather once or twice and talked to him on the phone on several other occasions. He had never called except when looking for Rei though and Ikuko knew that Usagi and all her friends were at Makoto's apartment for a study session.

                "What can I do for you Hino-san?" Ikuko asked, a trace of her confusion and curiosity creeping into her voice. "If you're looking for Rei, she's with Usagi and the other girls at Makoto's, studying. I know, I heard them arguing in the background when I checked up on them earlier."

                "Actually, I need to talk to you about Usagi," he said.

                "Why, is something wrong?" Ikuko asked, her heart jumping into her throat.

                "No, nothing's wrong," Amuro said. "At least not immediately. This is rather difficult to talk about and I'd prefer to do this face to face rather than over the phone. Would you be able to meet with me at my shrine, say about four p.m. tomorrow. This is rather important."

                Ikuko's brow creased in worry. "Yes, I can get there," she said. "If it's that important, would you like my husband to attend as well?"

                "If it's possible, but I don't won't to impose to greatly."

                "Is Usagi in any kind of trouble?" Ikuko asked, her heart starting to rise in her throat again. "She hasn't gotten involved with a something has she?"

                "Tsukino-san, I can't really say anymore until we meet face to face, but I assure you that to the best of my knowledge, your daughter is in no immediate danger."

                Ikuko took a deep breath and tried to calm away the knot in her stomach, but with little success. "Very well Hino-san. I'll take your word for it and I will see you at four p.m. tomorrow."

                She received directions to the Hikawa Shrine and then said her farewells to the old priest before going to sit on the couch. She turned on the T.V. and stared at it without really seeing what was one. She thought briefly of continuing with her earlier plan to read one of her secret manga stash, but that had lost its appeal and instead Ikuko considered what might be wrong with Usagi. As much as they fought, she did truly love her daughter and she dreaded the thought of anything ever happening to her. She leaned back stiffly on the couch and chewed her thumb in worry a and it was in that pose that Shingo found her when he returned home.

                It was the arrival of her son that snapped Ikuko out of her funk and for the rest of the day it was like she hadn't been worried at all. She said nothing to Usagi about the phone call when the odangoed blonde returned home and she didn't even say anything to Kenji when he arrived home either. But inside she was determined to go to the Hikawa Shrine the next day and found out just what was going on.

                Dr. Mizuno Ryoko sighed as she headed back to her office, wishing that she could have had something else than the standard cafeteria fare. It filled a hole and allowed her to get through her afternoon apointments without any embarrasing noises coming from her stomach, but that was the best that could be said about it. Even the wasabi was rather bland. She was about to pass the receptionist's desk and head into her office when the receptionist, who had been talking on the telephone. "Dr. Mizuno, there's a phone call for you on line 3. Something about your daughter."

                Ryoko felt her meal suddenly turn to lead in her stomach, but refused to let any of that show on her face. "I'll take it my office," she said, turning and continuing on her way. Once she was past the receptionist's desk and with the door to her office safely closed behind her, she allowed some of her anxiety to show on her face. Even if the receptionist's tone of voice hadn't been particularly urgent, Ryoko's over active imagination could quite easily present her with several possible scenarios, each more worrying than the last. She took a deep, calming breath before picking up the phone, sternly reminding her subconscious that it was most likely nothing before picking up the phone and activating the right line.

                "Dr. Mizuno here," she said, inwardly proud of how calm and steady her voice came out sounding.

                "Ah, Mizuno-sensei," a genial male voice said on the other end. "I'm glad that I was able to reach you. I'm not sure if you remember me, but my name's Hino Amuro, Rei's grandfather."

                Ryoko remembered him quite well, even if they had only met once. But she was gifted with a phenomenal memory, so it wasn't that surprising. "I remember Hino-san," she said. "The receptionist said that you wanted to talk to me about my daughter. She hasn't gotten into any trouble has she?"

                "No Mizuno-sensei, as far as I am aware, your daughter is perfectly fine. But there is something I would talk to you about concerning Ami that I would prefer not to do over the phone. I wonder if if it would be possible to arrange a meeting."

                "Would some time tomorrow be acceptable?" Ryoko replied and she could almost here the old man smiling on the other end of the line. "It's my day off tomorrow and while Ami and I do have plans in the morning, I'm free in the afternoon."

                "That would be perfect Mizuno-sensei. Would 4 p.m. at the Hikawa Shrine be convinient."

                "I don't see any problem with it. I am afraid that I am going to have to ask for directions though. I've never been to your shrine before."

                Rei's grandfather more than happy to oblige with directions and Ryoko scribbled them down on one of her prescription pads before ripping it off and putting the scrap of paper in her purse. Then she was forced to make a hasty farewell to Amuro as her afternoon apointments were beginning to arrive. They kept her mind off the problem of what could be wrong with Ami but they did not drive it from her mind entirely. As soon as the last patient was gone and the paperwork filed for the day Ryoko's overactive imagination once again kicked into overdrive again and she brooded all the way home.

                It wasn't until she was at the door of her apartment that she snapper herself out of her dark mood and deliberately tried to make her face as cheerful as possible for Ami when she walked in. It worked fairly well, for Ryoko, along with her eidetic memory was also gifted with what is known as a 'doctor's face' that tells people exactly what it the owner wants it to. So Ami had no idea of what was churning in her mother's head while Ryoko willed the time to pass faster so that she could discover what this was all about.

                Aino Sumire fumbled in her pocket for her lighter and a fresh cigarette as the opening credits for her favourite soap opera began to play. Finally she fished the lighter and not quite empty packet of cigarettes out of her purse, put one cigarette and lit is, taking a long drag once it was drawing properly and relaxed into the lounge, putting her feet up on the table infront of her. She had just got comfortable when she was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. She said several words under her breath that should not be repeated in print and reached out to grab the phone. Whoever it was had better be calling about something important to interrupt her soap operas and if it wasn't they were going to hear about it.

                "Aino residence. What do you want?" she snapped.

                "Aino Sumire-san," a vaguely familiar voice on the other end of the line asked.

                "Yes. Who's this."

                "I'm not sure if you'd remember me. Hino Amuro, Rei's grandfather. We only met once."

                "I remember you," Sumire said shortly. What she remembered was that he had tried to flirt with her and she had turned him down cold, but he still didn't take the hint. "What do you want? If Minako's broken anything again tell her she's to pay for it out of her own money."

                "Actually, I did want to talk to you about Minako, but she's not in trouble. It would be much easier if I explained in person. Would 4 p.m. tomorrow afternoon at my shrine be acceptable?"

                Sumire thought for a moment and remembered that there was nothing on the next afternoon but reruns. "I can make it," she said gruffly. "Though if Minako's done something, it would be better if you just told me so I can ground her."

                "I assure you Aino-san that all will be expalined tomorrow. Until then." And with that he hung up.

                Sumire replaced the phone and immediately focused her attention back on her soap opera. It was just finishing the recap of the previous episode so her bad mood quickly dissapated and she put all thoughts about what Minako might have done out of her mind.


	3. Chapter 2

Sailor Moon Revealed

Chapter 2

                Hino Amuro paced the front entrance of the Hikawa Shrine nervously as it approached two o'clock. His gaze kept flicking between the watch on his right wrist and the long flight of stairs that led up from the street to the shrine grounds themselves. At a quarter to two a little of his tension began to fade when a bus pulled up and disgorged several passengers, including Dr. Mizuno Ryoko. The doctor was an attactive woman, in a bookish sort of way. She dressed casually in a pair of slacks and a pale blue blouse and as she walked up the steps Amuro noticed that while her face held no outwards sign on what she was thinking, one hand fiddled nervously with the heavy braid that was thrown forward over one shoulder, while the other hand reached up to adjust the oval lensed wire frame glasses perched on her nose.

                "Ah Mizuno-sensei," he said, walking over to her as she reached the top step. "Welcome, welcome. Would you like to step inside for a cup of tea and I will join you momentarily. I've taken the liberty of inviting Usagi and Minako's mothers as well, if you have no objections. What I have to say is very important and it would be best if you all heard it at the same time."

                Ryoko smiled slightly. "I shall defer to your judgement in this case Hino-san," she said. "Though if you don't mind I would prefer to wait outside with you as well."

                "By all means, though I fear I shall be poor company."

                Ryoko nodded, but made no further comment. She seated herself on the step of the shrine as Amura continued to pace, one hand constantly fiddling with her braid, though her face was outwardly calm and pleasant. The silence did not last long though, for another bus soon followed the first and disgorged both Tsukino Ikuko and Aino Sumire. Ikuko looked and dressed the part of a typical Japanese housewife and though she and Usagi resembled each other around the face and eyes, the contrast between Ikuko's dark wavy hair and Usagi's blonde odangos was so great that at first glance you wouldn't take them for mother and daughter. On the other hand it was immediately obvious that Minako got her looks from her mother and it was also obvious what would happen to those looks if she didn't look after herself. Like Minako her hair was long and blonde, but whereas Minako's was soft, thick and luxurious, Sumire's was limp and dull. It was also quite obvious that she was using make-up to hide the effects encroaching effects of age, brought on prematurely by too many years of smoking. She was still attractive, but in a brittle, artificial way that spoke of a desperate attempts not to let go of youth.

                "Ah, ladies," Amuro said with his most winning smile. "I'm glad to see that you could both make it on time. If you and Mizuno-sensei could follow me inside, I will explain what I have asked you all here to discuss."

                He led the three women inside not into the shrine itself, but into the part of the residence that he used as his office, grateful of the continuing privacy. He sat behind his desk where he had assembled his evidence in seiza, feet tucked up underneath him and gestured for the women to sit as well. Both Ryoko and Ikuko sat down in seiza stance as well, pausing only to adjust clothing that was not really suited that style of seating. Sumire also sat, but it was also obvious that she was grumbling about the lack of western style seating, and instead of sitting in seiza stance she sat with her legs crossed loosely before her. She was also the first to speak. "So what is this all about exactly?" she asked, her tone bordering on the impatient.

                "I will explain in a moment," Amuro said, extracting three of the police sketches from his collection and handing one to each of the women, pausing briefly to confirm that the right sketch went to the right person. "First I would like for you to identify the person in the sketch."

                Sumire glanced at the piece of paper in her hand and shrugged as she dropped it back on the desk. "It's my daughter, so what?"

                "Mine's Usagi," Ikuko agreed, attempting to hand hers back, though Amuro gestured for her to keep it.

                "And mine is Ami," Ryoko said, "though I would like for you to tell me what my daughter is doing in a police sketch." Amuro raised on eyebrow at her in surprise and she shrugged. "I was required to aid the police in questioning an injured witness during my emergency war rotation when I was a student," Ryoko said with no embarrasement. "The occasion was rather memorable."

                "Since you all seem to be in agreement, then I would ask you to look again more closely and please note the names at the bottom of each page."

                Ikuko and Ryoko did so and Amuro stifled as smile as their eyebrows rose in surprise. "What is it?" Sumire demanded.

                "If you will examine it more closely Aino-san you shall see for yourself," Amuro said gently, handing back the discarded sheet of paper.

                With ill disguised imaptience Sumire took the sheet back again and her eyebrows came down in confusion when she looked at the name. "Sailor Venus? What is this?"

                "This is what I wished to speak to you all about," Amuro said. "I assume you are familiar with the stories of the Sailor Senshi that have been circulating around Juuban for the past several years. Firstly I can assure you that they are not simply urban legends but are indeed real. I have a made a few friends in the police force over the years and they assure me that whatever they are the Senshi are more than figments of out collective imagination and they have the eyewitness accounts and the physical evidence to prove it. What their intentions are, they seem to relatively benign, as most witness describe them as saving people from various creatures that fall under the general category of what might be describes as a monster. This being the case, the true mystery has always been who the Senshi really are and I believe I finally have the answer."

                "Your not seriously suggesting what I think you're suggesting, are you?" Ikuko asked as Ryoko looked thoughtful and Sumire's frown deepened.

                "I am," Amuro said. "Those sketches have been assembled from over a hundred eyewitnesses and while most of them are in too poor a condition after what they have experienced to provide much detail, when put together their desriptions have been remarkably consistent. These sketches are flimsy evidence on their own I admit, but you're initial identifications would tend to bear out my hypothesis. There is another piece of evidence, but I must first ask how willing are you to accept that there are things… beyond the physical realm of existance?"

                "I am a doctor by training," Ryoko said a several moments of silence from everyone. "I am trained to deal with the physical parts, a patients flesh, blood and bone. But I have seen patients suffering from terminal illnesses survive for weeks, even months after their bodies should have failed. I have seen cancer paitents who fight and refuse to give up go into remission and live normal, prosperous lies while others who give up succumb and die within months. I have read documented cases of patients whose hearts suddenly restart even after the dotors had given up hope. I can't help but hear of these and not think that there might be something beyond us, something immaterial that is part of what makes us who we are. So I must answer yes."

                "I don't suppose I can disagree after a speech like that," Ikuko said with a slightly impish smile.

                "Yeah, yeah, so all this mystical stuff might not be such a big fake after all," Sumire said. "So what is this other evidence."

                "This," Amuro said, placing the used ofuda on the desk. My family has run this shrine for a long time and we have developed a great many traditions. Among them is creating ofuda in to aid in the banishment of harmful spirits, either from people or places. The Senshi known as Sailor Mars has also been known to use ofuda on occasions and the police have recovered several. I taught Rei everything she knows about ofuda and I know her creations almost as well as my own, and this is one of hers. Furthermore my family has been gifted with certain… abilities for as long as can be remembered. It is more than just the style, I can sense the power that went into making this and it is Rei's. 

                "I offer as even firther proof, beyond the physical resembelance and beyond the ofuda. How many times have you called the home of someone here where your daughter has told you she will be and discovered that she is not here. I have had this happen to me on more than once occasion and I am confident that I am not the only one. Am I correct Tsukino-san?"

                Ikuko nodded, a slightly beweildered look on her face. "I thought that Usagi was just being a normal teenager, but when put together with everything else…"

                "So my duaghter is supposed to some superhero running around Tokyo in a miniskirt? This sounds like the plot of a bad anime or sentai show. I've wasted enough time here. You two can listen to this fairytale all you want, but I'm leaving."

                "Wait!" Amuro said, rising to his feet, ignoring the protests of aged joints at his sudden movements. "At least ask Minako about it. See her reaction first and then make up your own mind. If you still don't believe me, I won't bother you about it again, but if she is, you need to know about it. If they really are the Senshi, we don't know what sort of trouble they could get into. They may have just been lucky up until now and if something happened to them that you could have helped prevent, will you be able to live with yourself knowing that you had the chance but did nothing?"

                Sumire paused for a moment and then continued on her way. "I'll ask," she said as she opened the door, then left, not even bothering to close the door behind her.

                "I will ask as well," Ryoko said. "Ami says that Minako has occasional flashes of brilliances when it comes to acting so we and if she, Ami and the others are indeed Senshi and Minako can fool her mother and warn the others, we may never get to the truth. I would not wish to put this evidence before a court as proof, but I find is strangely compelling and the only place to get the truth is straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. If you have nothing else to share with us Hino-san, then I too must be taking my leave of you. I know that you would not have said anything about this if you did not believe it yourself and I thank you for sharing this informaiton."

                "So do I," Ikuko added. "This is a lot to think about, but I'll ask Usagi as well." A faint smile tugged at her lips. "Usagi's a terrible liar and I think I can surprise the truth out of her."

                Amuro chuckled slightly. "I'm sure you can Tsukino-san. If you don't mind I'll escort both of you to the bus stop."

                "We'd be honoured," Ryoko said.

                "Oh no, the honour is all mine," Amuro said as Ikuko. "It's not that often that two ladies as charming and beautiful as yourselves visit this shrine. It's the least an old man can do."

                He kept up the flirting banter all the way down the shrine steps and to the bus stop. Ikuko was flattered by the compliments he showered them with, even if some of them did stretch the truth rather thin and it was all in harmless fun. Ryoko on the other hand was rather amused by the whole act and responded with equally lavish compliments, a grin on her face and a laugh in her eyes. They rather pointedly ignored talking about their previous discussion for the whole time until the next bus arrived, almost as pointedly as Sumire ignored their presence. They all left with open invitations to visit the shrine any time they felt like it, even Sumire and finally Amuro slowly made his way back up the shrine steps. They weren't an easy jounrey, even for a young man, and besides a small part of him wanted to put of the confrontation with his granddaughter as long as possible. He just knew that it wasn't going to be pleasant. Still it was something he had to do and he squared his shoulders as he reached the top of the steps. He would find out the truth, one way or another in a few hours and that would be worth it.

                He hoped.

Author's Notes:

Well that's two chapters and the prologue. The next four chapters are going to focus on one of the Senshi and their family as the truth comes to light. I'll be working in the order of the astrological bodies distance from the sun, so Mercury, Minako, Usagi and then Rei. At least that's the plan at the moment ^_^. Poor Mako-chan misses out, because as I've said before, she lives on her own with no apparent guardian, so no one to hear the news and react. Still, she will appear, I promise that much. I can't write a Sailor Moon fic and not let my favourite Senshi appear!

As always C&C are appreciated, especially any information about Ami and Minako's parents.


	4. Chapter 3

Sailor Moon

Revealed

Chapter 3

                Mizuno Ami stretched as she walked up the stairs leading to the apartment that she shared with her mother. She enjoyed her study sessions with her fellow Inner Senshi for a number of reasons. Among other things, she found it actually helped her own grades, for while they ate into the time she used to study ahead of the rest of the class, it gave her the chance to review the material as well and trying to drill things through Usagi and Minako's skulls made sure that you knew the what you were talking about very well by the end. These study sessions were becoming more intensive as well, as the prospect of University Entrance exams began to loom large. Usagi has surprised everyone when she announced that she was going on to University, saying that her future subjects deserved a Queen who had taken her education as far as she was able and not bowed out because it was too hard. That inspired Makoto and Rei to take the exams as well as a show of solidarity, though neither of them had any intention of attending University, Rei planning on taking up a full time position as shrine maiden and Makoto already having been accepted to the most prestigious cooking school in Tokyo. But as much as Ami enjoyed those times with her friends, and as much as she enjoyed helping them learn, she always felt sore and stiff after them from having to sit in one position for several hours at a time. It didn't help either that Makoto was not above showing off the flexibility that her martial arts training had granted her when she stretched.

                Ami banished those thoughts from her head as she reached the door of her apartment and tried to remember if her mother would be home or not. They had spent a pleasant morning together, and her mother had mentioned something that she had to take care of shortly before Ami had left for the study session at Makoto's. Ami was also sure that her mother had mentioned what time she was planning on getting home, but for once Ami's memory failed her and she was completely unable to remember what time that was supposed to be. Still, it was a relatively inconsequential matter and she shrugged her shoulders to herself and opened the door.

                She was immediately greeted by the scent of cooking and her eyes went wide with surprise. While her mother was an acceptable cook, meaning that the food she made was edible, her job left little time for her to try and improve and on the infrequent occasions that she and Ami ate together it was for more common for them to have take-out or whatever Ami had been able to wheedle out of Makoto. Ami's nose twitched again though and she laughed silently to herself as she realised what she was smelling. It was the scent of Chinese take-out warming in the oven and Ami shook her head at her own foolishness. Her mother couldn't have been home long and certainly not long enough to have been able to prepare a full meal.

                "Taidama!" she called out as she entered the living room, putting her book bag on one of the chairs and dropping onto the couch.

                "Welcome home!" Ryoko replied cheerfully from the kitchen. "I've got Chinese for dinner. I hope you don't mind."

                "Chinese is good," Ami said. "At the moment, anything would be good."

                Ryoko laughed and emerged into the living room with several cardboard cartons emblazoned with the logo of the local take out and placed them onto the coffee table, along with two pairs of disposable chopsticks. Ami picked up a pair of the chopsticks and one of the cartons, which turned out to be stir-fried rice and dug in.

                The two women ate in companionable silence, broken only by requests to pass one or another of the cartons. Eventual the cartons were all emptied save for a few stray grains of rice and Ami and Ryoko both sighed in contentment. 'It wasn't quite up to Makoto's standards,' Ami mused, 'but definitely not bad.'

                Ryoko watched her daughter for several moments and then spoke up. "There's something important we need to talk about Ami-chan. Or perhaps should say Sailor Mercury-san?"      

                The effect on Ami was startling. For several long seconds she showed no reaction and then she sat bolt upright and her eyes fastened on her mother and there was no way she could hide the emotions shining in them. Surprise was first and foremost, but rapidly joined and overpowered by shock, panic and even fear. "I… I don't know what you're talking about," she finally managed and Ryoko sighed and shook her head.

                "Ami-chan, you have a great many gifts, but lying convincingly is most definitely not among them. Care to try again?"

                Ami slumped, her posture going from rigid to limp in the time it took to blink. "How did you find out?" she asked. "I didn't think I did anything to give me away."

                "You didn't," Ryoko assured her. "Rei's grandfather was the one who figured it out and he told me. Tsukino-san and Aino-san as well. They're probably talking to Usagi and Minako about it now as well."

                "The secret's well and truly out then, isn't it," Ami sighed.

                "Most of it," Ryoko agreed with a shrug. "Not entirely though. We don't know who those Outer Senshi, though I can make some fairly educated guesses. But why one thing that I can't figure out Ami, is why you didn't trust me enough to say something." Her tone was mild, but Ami could tell that her mother was hurt by the perceived lack of trust. To compensate for the lack of time that they were able to spend together, mother and daughter had had a degree of openness that Ami was certain that most other people her age didn't have with their parents.

                Sighing Ami stood, wrapping her arms around herself as she tried to gather her thoughts. "I swore not to tell," she said softly, not quite meeting Ryoko's eyes. "I promised not to tell anyone when I became a Senshi. The only ones we could reveal our identities to were other Senshi when we found them. There were times I wanted to tell you, but it wasn't just me. Usagi wakened as a Senshi before me, and she was the one who found me, so it was never just myself that I had to worry about. Then came Rei and Mako-chan and then we found out that Sailor V was really Sailor Venus and one of us, acting as a decoy to draw attention away while we awakened. If the secret had gotten out, we all would have been doomed so I couldn't."

                "I understand," Ryoko replied after a heartbeat of silence. "I'm a doctor and people trust me with their lives, so I know what its like and I can't fault my own daughter for not betraying the trust others placed in her. I'm sorry."

                Ami relaxed a little at that and worked up the courage to look into Ryoko's eyes, relaxing even further when the only thing that she saw in them was approval.

                "But one thing I want to know is how this got started," Ryoko said, a wry half smile tugging at her lips. "Somehow I don't imagine this was at random."

                Ami shook her head. "It wasn't, but I'm not sure you'd believe it. If it weren't for the fact I saw the proof with my own eyes, I'm not sure that I would believe it either."

                "Then show me some of the proof," Ryoko said, just a little pleadingly. "This has been part of your life for years now and I don't want to miss out on more than I already have. I want to see the side of you that Usagi in the others get to see."

                Ami blinked in surprise and then realised what her mother meant. "You want to see me as Sailor Mercury?"

                "If you don't mind."

                Ami felt as if the knot in her stomach that had formed at the beginning of conversation was beginning to unravel as she realised that her mother really did want to be part of this part of her life. In answer she raised her hand and felt the familiar rush of adrenalin and power as she called out, "MERCURY CRYSTAL POWER… MAKE UP!"

                Ryoko watched, entranced as a cocoon of light enveloped her daughter, its surface rippling like a pond being teased by a gentle breeze. It couldn't have lasted more than ten seconds all up, but when it disappeared, Ami stood as Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Mercury, the Senshi of Ice and Mist. Apart from the gem studded tiara on her forehead and the sudden addition of two extra earrings in her right ear and the change of outfit, Ryoko couldn't see any difference about Ami from before she transformed. Her second thought was that the pose Ami was standing in, elbows tucked in, arms pointing out and knees facing in, looked really uncomfortable and a little silly. "Why are you standing like that?" she asked, automatically.

                Ami looked down at herself and blinked, as if only noticing how she stood for the first time. She looked back up and said, "The subjects never actually come up," before breaking out in a small, infectious fit of giggles.

                Ryoko shook her head fondly as her giggles passed. "So this is Sailor Mercury," she said. "You know you don't look any different than before."

                Ami nodded. "We figure there's something that interferes with people's ability to recognise us when we're transformed. It's also what makes all the photos of us turn out blurry, but what ever it is, it loses its effects if someone already knows who we are, or sees us transform. I've been meaning to investigate, but the problem is that any subject is automatically contaminated after the first test."

                "We'll leave that for another day then," Ryoko said. "Now you were going to tell me what all this Senshi business is about and how it started."

                Oddly enough, now that she was transformed, Ami found it easier to talk about everything. Perhaps it was because she was now living proof that it was not just some fanciful story, but the truth. "It all started so long ago that the time has already become myth and legend and then forgotten. Thousands of years ago there was a time called the Silver Millennium." Ami went on tell how Queen Beryl, driven Queen Mettalia had sent Dark Kingdom, only be thwarted by Queen Serenity and the Ginzuishou and how Serenity had sent her daughter and her court to be re-incarnated in the far future where they could stop the Dark Kingdom should they ever escape their prison. Then Ami told of how Sailor Moon had arrived one day at her Juku and she had been awakened as Sailor Mercury and they had gone on to fight the Dark Kingdom together. Her voice began to quaver as she began to relate the events at D-point. She began to tremble violently as she described how Makoto had died before their very eyes and those tremors only began to grow worse as she described how the youma had attacked her next as she tried to stop their illusions.

                "All I remember after breaking the gem was pain and being crushed until I… died." There was nothing she could do to stop the tears then and Ryoko, horrified at Ami's description of her own death, let her maternal intincts kick in, wrapping her daughter in her own embrace until the tears and shaking stopped. For all their intensity, the tears stopped in very short order and Ami pulled away from her mother, wiping at wet cheeks with her gloved hands. "I'm sorry," she said, just a little hoarse. "I try to think about that as little as possible and it still hits me hard whenever I think about it."

                "It's all right," Ryoko assured her, drawing Ami back to her to embrace her once again, as much for her own comfort as for Ami's. The logical part of her mind was insisting that obviously everything turned out all right, but emotions weren't often susceptible to logic and part of her was still qualing in horror at what she had just heard. "I didn't mean to bring up such bad memories. Still everything must have turned out all right in in the end?"

                Ami nodded, drawing back slightly, but not entirely leaving the protective circle of her mother's arms. "Usagi called us back with the power of the Ginzuishou when she fought Mettalia and when she won, she used the power to restore us, wishing that we could just be ordinary girls again, but if there was no other way, I would do it all again. She is our princess, and no matter how high the cost, we would all pay it gladly."

                Ryoko sighed softly to herself at that statement, for not only the words, but the tone of voice they were delivered in said quite clearly that her daughter was no longer a child and had not been for quite some time.

                Continuing on Ami sketched in the following years, recounting the battles against the Dark Moon Clan, the Death Busters, the Black Moon Circus and finally Galaxia and her Sailor Animates. "Mostly we've been mopping up since Galaxia left. Apparently not all of the Daimon eggs were destroyed along with Proffesor Tomoe's lab and a few of the Dark Moon Circus's Lemurs are still hiding here and there," Ami concluded. "They're no real problem and we've all gotten strong to deal with the on our own, but it reminds us not to get complacent."

                "An interesting story," Ryoko said finally. "And from what you tell me, there are things I would have done differently, but I'm not the one who has to make those decisions, you are. I'm proud of you Ami-chan. You're a very brave young woman with wisdom beyond your years. I don't know what I did to deserve a daughter like you, but I'm glad I did it, whatever it was. But there are two things I want you to promise me. First, I want you to tell me what you're doing. The decisions are your to make and I won't stop you, no matter how little I like what may happen, but I want to know."          

                "I promise," Ami said.

                "Good. Now the second thing is that should anyone ever get hurt, I want you to bring them to me. Your secrets safe with me and I'll sleep better at night knowing that you'll be able to get medical help if you need it."

                Ami nodded. "Of course. That's worried me as well. I've always been afraid what would happen if one of us was hurt beyond Usagi or… Saturn's abilty to heal. But I must ask something as well."

                "Name it," Ryoko said.

                "Don't tell anyone without asking us first. I trust you, but Pluto can be suspiscious and she'd insist that I ask."

                "I promise. I would never have done it anyway, but if it makes your friend Pluto any happier, I swear it by all our ancestors and all the kami of Heaven and Earth. Now why don't you go wash-up. I've rented a few movies out and there's some ice-cream in the freezer as well. I thought that we could have a girl's night in."

                Ami nodded and with a thought changed from Sailor Mercury to her normal, everyday self, her image seeming to ripple as she did so. She headed into the bathroom to freshen up, aware that her eyes were red from her bout of tears. As she turned the tap, a voice called out from the living room. "And don't think this means I don't expect good results on your University Entrance Exams!"

                Ami just smiled, her heart feeling lighter than it had for quite some time, secure in the certainty that everything was going to be all right.

Author's Notes.

Well, that's the _easy_ chapter done. Part of the reason I did Ami's chapter first was because I never intended Mizuno-sensei to be anything other than supportive and understanding. That being said though, thanks should go to Windtear for prodding me and Muse-chan into finishing this instead of letting it languish half finished on my hard drive. 

Next chapter: Aino Sumire and Aino Minako deal with the revelations and Artemis reveals himself.


	5. Chapter 4

Sailor Moon

Revealed

Chapter 4

                Aino Minako hummed softly to herself as she walked up the path to her home. Just before she reached the front door she paused and looked about to make sure that no one was looking before kneeling down and letting Artemis out of her bag and on to the ground. "I'll meet you upstairs," she said. "I left the window in my room open before we left."

                "Are you sure?" the white furred Moon Cat asked uncertainly. "I seem to remember one time you said that and I was stuck outside for half the night in freezing rain."

                "That was two years ago," Minako protested. "Besides a little soul is good for your hardship… or something like that."

                Artemis just sighed at the mangled proverb and trotted around the side of the house to the tree with a branch capable of supporting his weight conveniently near Minako's window. He would have preferred to go in the front door with Minako or at least through a cat flap, but Minako's mother was less than fond of cats to put it mildly and Artemis figured the extra trouble was worth keeping his tail intact.

                Once Artemis was out of sight around the corner of the house, Minako straightened and continued on her interrupted journey to the front door, idly noting as she did that the car was missing from the garage, meaning that her father was working late again. They couldn't really afford the car on what her father earned, what with the exorbitant prices for registration and fuel, but her mother had insisted on it as some sort of status symbol and was not above raiding the royalties Minako earned as the model for the Sailor V video games and manga to cover the short fall, something that annoyed Minako no end, but as she was still legally dependent on her parents, there was very little that she could do about it.

                With a mental sigh Minako opened the door, calling out, "Taidama," but not really expecting a response, figuring that her mother was probably too engrossed in whatever she was watching on television to answer. Frankly Minako was happier with things that way, for when she prised her attention away from the television, Aino Sumire could be a very difficult person to live with. At that moment, Minako was offering up nightly prayers to the kami and anyone else who might be listening that her mother's next weight loss phase could be put off as long as possible. Since she was disinclined to do any amount of exercise, but almost fanatical about watching her weight, Sumire periodically went on what could generously be called diets, though in Minako's mind they bordered extended periods of starvation, and if Sumire had to do it, she wasn't doing it alone, making her husband and daughter join her in them.

                Minako was jolted out of her thoughts when it filtered through to her conscious mind that her casual announcement of her return had gotten a response. Minako looked up as her hands and feet swapped her plain white joggers for indoor slippers on autopilot. Standing in the door way to the living room was Aino Sumire, her blue eyes locked on her daughter and if looks could actually do physical harm to a person, Minako wouldn't be dead, but she would be in need of an ambulance right then. "And just where were you today?" Sumire asked, her voice frosty.

                Minako frowned in puzzlement. "I was at Mako-chan's apartment studying with everyone else," she replied. "Just like I told you this morning."

                "Are you sure?" Sumire asked archly, one eyebrow rising sceptically. "You weren't out running around Tokyo in a mini-skirt saving the Earth from monsters from out of space or what ever nonsense it is you Sailor Senshi are supposed to do?"

                Minako couldn't help it. She had been so careful about her secret identities for so long that it had long since become automatic and she was so certain that no one would ever work it out that she let out a startled yelp of surprise. She stomped down on the startled exclamation almost as soon as it started and it emerged as more of a strangled squawk and the look of surprise that flickered across her face was gone almost as soon as it appears, but it was enough to give her away.

                "He's right," Sumire said in surprise as the confirmation for everything that she had been told passed across Minako's face for just a split second. She would have missed it if she hadn't been looking for it. "The old coot was actually right," she said, mostly to herself, but loud enough to be clearly heard, her own surprise at the revelation temporarily over riding the implications of what that actually meant, but they began to catch up very quickly. Her eyes began to narrow as her mind went into overdrive contemplating the possibilities and an angry light began to smoulder in her gaze. "You little bitch!"

                Minako flinched back from the apparent non-sequitur, stung and more than a little hurt by the insult, especially coming from her own mother. "What are you talking about?" she asked trying to diffuse the situation a little, though part of her knew full well that a storm was coming and it couldn't be avoided, only weathered.

                "You were this Sailor Venus or whatever and you've been hiding it all this time."

                Still not entirely understanding what her mother's anger was all about, Minako desperately tried to offer up an explanation. "I swore an oath of secrecy," she said, drawing back a little further. "I couldn't tell anyone."

                "Bullshit," Sumire said. "You were just keeping this to yourself so you could enjoy all the benefits for yourself."

                Understanding finally dawned in Minako's eyes and it awakened a spark of anger within her to answer her mother's. She was surprised that she had though that it might be about anything else, for if there was one thing that Minako knew was true, it was that in the end all the things that mattered in Aino Sumire's life came back to one thing and that was herself.

                "I didn't get any benefits," Minako shot back, her voice rising in volume. "It isn't about wealth and power; it's about love and justice!"

                That earned a cynical snort and crossed arms. "Sure. Running about in mini-skirts all over Tokyo has everything to do with love and justice. You were just too greedy to share it with your own parents. Do you know how famous you Sailor Senshi are? We could have made a fortune out of the interview rights alone."

                "I had to keep it a secret for a reason," Minako said, but Sumire was on a roll and wasn't about to be stopped.

                "You and your little friends just run around Tokyo making everyone wonder who you are but heaven forbid anyone else get anything out of your little secret. Instead of sharing some of this as thanks for all the effort I've put into raising you over the years, you have your fun and leave me stuck here in this dump."

                "It wasn't about money," Minako replied, anger giving way rapidly to disbelief and pain that her own mother thought so little of her. "The fate of the world was on the line. If the wrong person had ever found out it would have meant the death of everyone on the planet. I disguised myself as Sailor V and deliberately drew attention to myself to keep the Princess safe before she awakened so that everyone else might have had a chance to survive, even if I didn't."

                "I couldn't have been all that dangerous if you're here today. What's the worst that could have happened, you'd break a nail?" Sumire snapped, throwing her daughter's all too obvious pride in her looks; some might even say vanity back in her face.

                "I could have died," Minako said, her voice beginning to become laced with hysteria. "I _did_ die! _Twice!!!_ It's only because of the Ginzuishou that any of us are alive to talk about it."

                "Then why do it if it's so dangerous. You could have got someone else to do it."

                "No I couldn't," Minako said, almost pleading in an attempt to get her mother to understand. "I'm the only person who could ever be Sailor Venus. And even if I could have given it up, I wouldn't have. I had to do this, especially when I finally met the others I couldn't just abandon them, especially not Usagi. She is our Princess and I would gladly give my life for her a hundred times over."

                Sumire's disbelief was clear in the expression on her face, an expression far more eloquent than words could ever be. "Usagi? That little cry-baby? Why on Earth would anyone ever even think about putting their life on the line for someone like her? What could she possibly do for them?"

                Minako finally broke down and the tears began to flow freely down her cheeks. "For love!" she wailed desperately. "She is the Princess and that alone would command out loyalty, but it's more than that. She opens her heart and loves impartially and for that I can't help but love her! We all do!"

                Sumire recoiled in disgust at that and Minako shook her head fiercely. "Not that kind of love!" she insisted. "I know that kind of love and what I feel for Usagi isn't it. I am the Senshi of Love and Beauty and I should know, shouldn't I. Never mind that I can't find that sort of love for myself. I'm supposed to be the embodiment of love and beauty and I can't even find my own love because I'm too afraid that they will wither and die while I'm left all alone through the long years until Crystal Tokyo, or even longer."

                That last part was not what Minako had intended to say, but a floodgate had burst inside her and all the pain was beginning to spill through, dropping to her knees and hugging her arms tight around her body as the tears began to flow even more freely, but Sumire had been able to grasp one thing through all the pain and sorrow in her daughter's voice. She knew that somehow Minako knew that she was going to live a long time, far longer than a normal human lifespan by the implications of her statement about the long years was any indication.

                "You discovered the secret to immortality?" Sumire screeched, probably loud enough for the neighbours to hear quite clearly. "And just when the hell were you planning on sharing this with the rest of us you ungrateful little shit? Or where you going to let everyone else grow old and die while you skipped off, still young and beautiful so you could do what ever you want?"

                Minako just stared at her mother, her face stricken and unable to articulate anything but a few mournful sobs while inside she felt her heart crumble into nothingness, leaving only a raw, aching void of pain behind. Still the tears came, the only expression that Minako could find for her pain as Sumire opened a mouth to speak again, but she was cut off by a male voice that said quite firmly, "Madam, I think you have said more than enough for one night and if you have even a shred of compassion in that cold shrivelled excuse for a heart I will kindly thank you to shut your mouth."

                Sumire turned to look behind her for the source of the voice and frowned in irritation when all she saw was a white cat standing at the top of the steps. She was about to look away when she caught the cat's gaze and for the first time realised that those blue eyes held a glitter of very human intelligence in them and at that moment they were filled with fury and venom to match the voice that had just spoken.

                "Never before in my life have I ever met someone so cold and callous as to do something to their own daughter and if anyone had ever asked me before tonight, I would have denied that such a person existed."

                Sumire's voice went very wide when she realised that the voice did in fact belong to the cat and she could only stare dumbfounded for several long seconds as he padded down the stairs, while at the same time Minako managed to find her voice again.

                "Artemis," she sobbed out in a voice thick with desperation, pain and loneliness, a voice that begged for comfort and consolation and Artemis was not immune to that and he padded silently to her side. He didn't even protest as Minako scooped him into her arms and smothered him in a too tight embrace.

                "The cat talks," Sumire said, as she regained the power of speech.

                "Yes, I talk," Artemis said as he twisted his head around to pin Sumire with a glare that could have reduced her to a little pile of ashes if such things were possible. "I am in fact fluent in both English and Japanese. I can quote several famous Japanese poems, I can compose haiku, I can recite from memory all of Shakespeare's Hamlet and Henry V, as well as large portions of MacBeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard III and several other of his plays and several of the more interesting stanza's of Milton's Paradise Lost. I can debate logic and philosophy, though not very well, and my singing voice is pretty damn good if I do say so myself."

                Sumire's jaw was clenched tights as Artemis delivered that stinging rebuke and she began to grind her teeth as blood rushed to her face as the final restraints on her temper snapped. "You self-centred, ungrateful, conniving, underhanded little bitch!" she yelled. "You kept all this from me for years, all this time going behind my back, as if your stupid little friends were more important than your own mother. You kept me in this hellhole just to keep your miserable secret when we could have been living high…"

                Sumire continued, but it Minako didn't hear anything beyond that. Her one final hope that somehow, someway things might be resolved and everything go back to the way they were supposed to died stillborn in her chest and the only thing she could do was rise up and flee from the voice that did nothing more than cause more pain until it threatened to consume her and leave nothing behind. She was dimly aware of that voice rising in volume and becoming more strident as she fled, but she was well past caring and all she could do was run, blinded by tears and with no destination in mind but as far away from the place she had once called home as possible.

                Minako had no idea how far she ran, or for how long, miraculously managing to avoid running into to anything or being flattened by traffic. At one point Artemis's raised itself, intruding into her consciousness for a bare heartbeat, but she couldn't tell what the words were over her own crying. Then strong arms were wrapped around her and a familiar voice spoke to her. Minako was able to pull herself together long enough to look up and see Haruka holding her while Artemis jumped from her arms to Michiru's and then with a wail of pure loss and despair, she threw herself into the Outer Senshi's arms and let the last of the barriers go and knew nothing beyond her pain until exhaustion overcame grief and blessed unconsciousness claimed her.

Author's Notes: slumps over keyboard Whew! That was not an easy chapter to write. I really put poor Minako through the wringer and while I apologie and hope that she will eventually forgive me, from an authorial point of view, I feel that it was nessecary for the sake of the story to put in a little more emotional 'oomph' and I hope you enjoyed it. Oh and if you feel this left things a little unresolved, your right. There will be a sequel chapter.

                Things get a little lighter in the next chapter as Usagi tries to explain to Ikukko that Chibi-Usa was in fact her granddaughter and no she and Mamoru haven't been doing things that will make Kenji want to visit severe bodily harm on a certain Tux-boy. Then the sparks will fly as fire meets fire as the residents of Hikawa Jinja clash.

                On that matter, I believe I should explain something. Most of the critcism I have been receiving has been on the fact that Amuro (aka Grandpa Hino) blabbled the senshi's secret without first considering why they would want to keep their identities a secret. It's a valid point, and I welcome the feedback, but as counterpoint I would point out that that is a logical reaction and Grandpa Hino is thinking with his heart, not his head. He knows that Rei is involved with something dangerous and something might happen to her and he also knows how the other parents would feel if something happened to one of the others as well (though with Sumire he may have been mistaken) and he honsetly believes that by telling their parents he is helping the Senshi. Right or wrong, he does mean well and is as fallable as anyone else.

P.S. To those reading my other works as well, my apologies for the long updates. I'm suffering a bit of writer's block and this is the only thing that Muse-chan can concentrate on, but I promise that they have not been adandoned and all of them have their next stages prtially written and they will be continued, though when I can't say.


	6. Chapter 5

                Tsukino Usagi yawned and rubbed her eyes as she walked through the door of her home, afterimages of differential equations and English tense forms dancing behind her eyes as she wondered why on Earth she had decided that she was going on to higher education rather than bowing out gracefully at the end of high school. Actually what she really wondered why on Earth she had told her friends that she was going to do it, because now they weren't going to let her back down. She knew that the future citizens of Crystal Tokyo deserved the best educated ruler possible, but when facts and figures threatened to spill out of her head, she wished desperately that there was an easier way to do it.

                As she walked in, she was vaguely aware of her mother asking to see her in the kitchen and her own vague reply in the affirmative, with the rider that she just had to return her bag to her room, but she was too caught up in trying to the pressure of all the information that had been poured into her head from popping her odango off and shooting them across the room, that she missed the odd tone in which Ikukko asked her question. Luna, hiding in Usagi's bag, was paying more attention and caught it. She popped her head out of the bag and looked at Ikukko, but the expression she was wearing was utterly blank, which was very unlike her. It was enough to make Luna worry, as she had been on edge all day with a sense of foreboding that was hard to shake.

                "Usagi, I think you should be careful when you talk to your mother," Luna said as the future queen of Crystal Tokyo placed her bag on her bed, allowing Luna to jump out.

                "Why?" Usagi asked, sitting down beside the moon cat. "You don't think something's wrong with her?"

                "I'm not certain," Luna admitted grudgingly. "She just had a very odd look on her face when she spoke to you and I've had this feeling that something bad is going to happen all day."

                "It's probably nothing," Usagi assured her. "Rei hasn't had any visions, Michiru hasn't seen anything in the Aqua Mirror and Pluto would have told us if something was about to happen. I think Artemis is right and you've just been snacking on too many of Mako-chan's treats. It's giving you an upset tummy."

                "Fine then," Luna said, sitting down and rearranging her fur that had been put out of place by the trip in Usagi's bag. "Don't believe me. But be careful and don't do anything foolish."

                "Don't worry," Usagi assured her. "When have I ever done anything foolish?"

                "Do you really want me to answer that?" Luna asked as Usagi closed the door behind her and headed down the stairs. Usagi ignored her.

                Instead she headed down stairs, pausing briefly at Shingo's door and telling him to turn his videogames down. She wandered lightly into the kitchen and turned to look at her mother who was seated at the kitchen table, looking quite calm and collected. "You wanted to see me Mama?" Usagi asked, completely unconcerned, because she knew that she had passed all of her last round of tests, though only just in most cases, and there was no other possible cause of parental wrath.

                "Sit down Usagi," Ikukko said in a calm, but firm voice. Usagi sat. "Now is there anything important that you want to tell me?" she asked.

                Usagi stared at her mother blankly for a few seconds, wondering where the question had come from. She hadn't done anything that would get her into trouble recently and unless someone had been making things up, there wasn't any reason why her mother should either. Nor could she think of why someone she knew wanted to get her into trouble by doing so, not even Shingo, who was good enough at ferreting out the things that he didn't need to make things up, he always had more than enough ammunition at hand whenever he needed it. Though it did jog Usagi's memory on one thing. "Oh yeah, Mako-chan wants to know if she can have a copy of your special miso soup recipe!"

                Ikukko sighed mentally and allowed her shoulders to slump slightly. "No Usagi," Ikukko, praying to anyone who might be listening to grant her patience. "Something more important that that."

                Usagi thought a few moments longer, but still came up blank. "Nope, nothing," she said with a shake of her head.

                Ikukko decided to switch tactics, since it was quite obvious that the oblique approach was doomed to failure. "Not even the fact that you're Sailor Moon?" she prodded gently.

                It has been noted by many who knew Usagi, close friends and casual acquaintances that she has an almost infinite well spring of compassion and her ability to forgive was matched only by her inability to lie. To those who knew her well, not only was she incapable of lying, the exact way she tried to lie almost invariably told you exactly what she was trying to hide. For about five seconds Usagi gave a very good impression of a deer caught in a car's headlights. Then she recovered and gave a too vigorous shake of her head as a false smile was plastered over her face. "No. I don't know anything about that," she said, just a little too loudly, followed by a very nervous laugh. "Absolutely nothing!" she added after a few seconds.

                Ikukko didn't bother to reply, she just looked at Usagi with the expression universal to mothers who have caught their offspring in an attempted deception, arms crossed in front of her and one foot tapping lightly on the floor. It took a few seconds to work, but work it did and Usagi slumped.

                "How did you find out?" Usagi asked with a sigh.

                "Rei's grandfather was the one who figured it out," Ikukko explained, letting her stern expression fade. "He was the one who told us."

                "Us?" Usagi asked.

                "Myself, Minako's mother and Mizuno-sensei. They're probably talking to Minako and Ami about this right now. Though he wasn't able to figure out who those Outer Senshi were. I don't suppose you know?"

                "I know, but telling would get the Space Sword and Aqua Mirror put somewhere very uncomfortable, even if I am the princess."

                Ikukko stared at her daughter as if she had grown another head that had just started reciting Shakespearean sonnets in Sanskrit backwards. "Princess?" she asked, praying that she had heard wrong.

                "Um, yeah," Usagi said uncertainly, desperately trying to figure out how to explain the situation in as few words as possible. "You see, a really, really long time ago there was this Kingdom on the Moon called the Moon Kingdom and I'm the re-incarnation of the last princess of that Kingdom," Usagi explained, nodding for emphasis. She was actually quite proud of herself for that, for while it left out a lot of the details it was very accurate and not too complicated.

                "So you're the re-incarnated Princess of an ancient Kingdom from the Moon?" Ikukko, suddenly wishing that she could go back in time and refuse Amuro's invitation to the shrine so that she could remain in blissful ignorance. "And all the others are…?"

                "Oh, they're also re-incarnated Princesses of their own kingdoms, but they were all my bodyguards back then as well. Well, the Inner Senshi were, the Outers were kind of like border guards and it made Uranus and Neptune kinda paranoid. I don't think that they trust the Starlights, even now."

                Ikukko suppressed an urge to sigh and raised one hand to rub at her temples in an effort to stave off the incipient headache. The conversation was turning out to be far more confusing than she had anticipated by far. "How about you try explaining everything again, from the very beginning," she said in what she thought was a very patient tone of voice, all facts considered.

                "Start what from the beginning?" Shingo asked, walking into the kitchen and retrieving the orange juice from the refrigerator. He didn't think of himself as particularly nosey, but when it came to his older sister, he was always overcome by a burning urge to know everything about what she was doing, especially when she tried to cover it up, like she did then.

                "Nothing important," Usagi blurted out. "You wouldn't find it interesting at all."

                "I'm not so sure about that," Ikukko said, turning slightly in her chair to look more directly at her younger child. "Actually I think Shingo would be very interested to know that his sister is Sailor Moon."

                "Yeah, so?" Shingo asked with a shrug as he downed the class of orange juice that he had poured while Usagi and Ikukko were speaking. Lowering the glass, he looked at the surprised expressions on the faces of his sister and his mother. "What, you mean you only just found out?" he asked Ikukko, his expression incredulous.

                "When did you find out?!" Usagi squawked, barely managing to stop herself from shouting.

                "Ages ago," Shingo said with a shrug. "How many blondes are there in Tokyo with that ridiculous hair style?"

                "It's not ridiculous," Usagi muttered. "And there are more people wearing this hairstyle than you think."

                "Yeah, but they're bottle blondes and you're a natural and that hairstyle became famous only when Sailor Moon did, but you've been wearing it for ages. Besides, you and Luna should keep your voices down when you talk. The wall between our rooms isn't that thick and I can hear you when you start yelling at each other."

                "Luna?" Ikukko asked, confused. "Usagi's cat?"

                "Yep," Shingo said. "She talks. Actually it's been pretty cool having a famous hero for a sister, but there's been one thing that's been bugging me. Who is Chibi-Usa? I know she couldn't be our cousin, but I could never figure out who she was exactly."

                Usagi looked between her brother and her mother with a sense of doom. She had no idea how Shingo had broken Chibi-Usa's hypnotic suggestion and it really wasn't all that important. What was important was what Ikukko's reaction was going to be when she heard the truth. "She's my daughter from the future," Usagi said in a small voice.

                "She's your daughter?" Ikukko yelled, eyes open comically wide and her eyebrows nearly up to her hairline. "But she's was nearly ten the last time we saw her and you weren't even sixteen."

                "From the future! From the future!" Usagi said repeatedly. "She hasn't actually be born yet."

                It was at this point that Shingo decided that it was about time that he withdrew from the conversation and the room, confident in having completed his brotherly duty of being as annoying as possible and knowing that if he stuck around he was likely to get interrogated as to why he has made no mention of Usagi's secret identity if he had known it for so long. He quietly put the orange juice back in the refrigerator and made a hasty exit from the kitchen, going fast enough that by the time either Usagi or Ikukko noticed he was gone, it would be too late to stop him, but not so fast that he drew any undue attention to himself.

                While Shingo made good his escape, Ikukko had her attention focused entirely on daughter. "So she hasn't been born yet and came back in time to make sure that history turned out right."

                "That's right," Usagi said, thinking that she might just have avoided being grounded.

                "So who's her father?" Ikukko asked, her gaze penetrating and Usagi swallowed nervously. She knew there was going to be no way that her mother would believe any lie that she concocted.

                Before she could beging to panic though, inspiration struck and she answered with a completely straight face and utterly truthfully, "Her father's Neo-King Endymion." It was the absolute truth, but there was no way her mother would connect the name with Mamoru. That only left hoping that her mother didn't realise that Mamoru was Tuxedo Kamen as her sole big worry.

                Ikukko's face went through several several different expressions in very short order and finally settled on a look of starry eyed excitement. "My baby girl's going to marry a King!!!" she squealed, just about jumping up and down in her seat with glee.

                "Um…, not really," Usagi said, squirming in her seat a little. "He doesn't become King until after we get married."

                "Oh, so he's still just a Prince then," Ikkuko said, brushing it off as a minor detail, making Usagi squirm even more.

                Part of her was perfectly willing to let her mother go with that innacurate impression. It wasn't like she had actually lied, it was just that Ikkuko had jumped to her own conclusions those conclusions were kind of off base. No matter how tempting the prospect though, deep down she knew that it would be just as dishonest letting her mother go one thinking that as if she had lied outright, and it wasn't like there was any point in keeping secrets anymore. "Uhh, that's not it either," Usagi said, blushing and wondering exactly how her mother was going to react to this bombshell.

                Usagi's tone of voice was enough to bring Ikkuko down from her daydreams of a royal wedding, at least temporarily. "Well how does he become a king then?" Ikkuko asked. "He can't be that far down the line of succession."

                "He… um, becomes King because he marries me."

                Ikkuko just looked hard at Usagi for several long moments, obviously demanding an explanation.

                Usagi sighed and wondered just how to explain Crystal Tokyo without going into details that she was frankly not comfortable revealing, including the near immortality of herself, Mamoru and the Senshi and the near annihilation of humanity. Then inspiration struck again, causing Usagi to wondering in passing why she couldn't get these flashes of inspiration during exams before taking a deep breath and explained. "Well, the Moon Kingdom that I was Princess of in my past life is ressurected, but on the Earth, not the moon and I'm crowned Queen. Sort of." Very sort of, but it would have to do for an explanation.               

                Ikkuko just continued to look at Usagi and eventually sighed in resignation. As far as she could tell, Usagi was being completely honest. Ikkuko could read her daughter like a book and while she could tell that there were things that Usagi wasn't being completely forthcoming about, she wasn't lying, or even trying to mislead Ikkuko into incorrect conclusions. If she had wanted to do that she could have just kept her mouth shut at let Ikkuko remain in her daydreams of a royal wedding. And to top things off, the headache that had been threatening earlier in the conversation was back with a vengange.

                "All right," Ikkuko said. "I am going to take your word for this for the moment. But if this really is true I expect you to be studying extra hard from now on. You can't run a nation without an education. As for this other stuff about Sailor Moon, I'm not going to stop you from going out, but I want you to promise that you'll tell me when you do. If I ever find out that you've been using it as an excuse to get out of the house, you are going to be grounded for so long that you'll forget what it looks like outside the house."

                "Yes Mama," Usagi said meekly. "Can I go now?"

                Ikkuko sighed again and muttered something under her breath that sounded suspisciously like "Why me?" and then nodded. Usagi got up and began to beat a hasty retreat. She was stopped when Ikkuo spoke up again. "And don't think you've gotten off lightly young lady. I will be discussing this with your father and you will be explaining this to him as well."

                Usagi grimaced and continued in her hasty retreat before any more bad news came her way. Explaining to her father about being Sailor Moon was going to make what she had just gone through look like a free lock in session at the Crown Arcade. She was going to need Luna's help and need it desperately.

                Still in the kitchen Ikkuko retrieved the hidden stash of aspirin that she was convinced every housewife had, just to make sure that there was some there when they really needed it. She had the feeling that she was going to be putting a bit of a dent in it over the course of the next few days and at the moment she needed to kill her current headache if she wanted to explain to Kenji that their daughter was Sailor Moon without sounding like a loon. She swallowed two whole and wondered briefly whether or not she should see Mizuno Ryoko about something stronger before heading over to start getting dinner ready.

                At that moment raised voices from upstairs signalled the beginnings of an argument between Usagi and Shingo. Ikkuko even managed a weak smile for the sounds of the fight at least brought the comfort that her daughter was still indeed who she thought she was and life would go on much like it did.

Author's Notes:

                Well, one more chapter down and the fun really begins next time when Rei and Amuro reach there long awaited showdown. Apolpgies about the delay, but Muse-chan up and quit on my about two thirds of the way through and hasn't gotten back to it for a little while.

                As I said, next time Rei gets to shine and after that the Senshi begin to deal with the aftermath of the sudden changes in their lives.


	7. Chapter 6

Sailor Moon

Revealed

Chapter 6

Hino Rei rolled her shoulders as she disembarked from the bus that stopped at the base of the stairs belonging to Hikawa Shrine. Unlike most of her fellow senshi, sitting in one place for extended periods of time didn't present much of a problem for her; she was used to it from her duties as a miko. What was the problem was that so much writing caused her hands and arms to start cramping up and she had never studied so hard in her life. Though she had no intention of actually entering university, she and Makoto had agreed to take the exams with Usagi to support her and Rei was discovering just what it was like to actually study for an entrance exam. Minako hadn't been any help either, throwing out the occasional snide comment about those who got it easy and went straight through school without having to take entrance exams. Rei had pointedly ignored them.

Rei's mood had not been helped any by the fact that she had been getting a feeling of impending trouble since before she left for Makoto's in the morning and they had been growing steadily worse as the day wore on. It was times like those that Rei wished that her precognitive abilities were just a little stronger, so that she could actually get proper visions without having to enter a mediative state, rather than just the vague feelings that she so often received. Still she had managed to contain her unease and now that she was home she didn't plan on letting anything get between her and the sacred fire.

She all but ran up the stairs, despite how steep they were and headed straight for her room the moment her foot cleared the last step. She didn't even make it halfway across the courtyard though before the feeling of impending trouble peaked, stopping her dead in her tracks as her grandfather exited the shrine proper and caught sight of her. "Ah, Rei-chan, just the person I wanted to see," he said just a tad too cheerfully.

Rei blinked as her senses told her that her grandfather was the source of the trouble she had been sensing. Her immediate thought was that he had been possessed by something, yet she could feel nothing evil or malignant about him. "Talk to me about what?" she asked, puzzled. The tone of voice he was using sounded far too much like the one he used when Rei was in trouble but he didn't want her to know it just yet. It had been quite a while since he had actually used that tone of voice with Rei but they were among the more… memorable experiences of her childhood.

"About something you and your friends have been doing," Amuro said calmly enough though the sense of dread that Rei had been getting grew stronger with every word. "In fact I was talking to Tsukino-san, Aino-san and Mizuno-sensei about the matter earlier."

Rei tried to imagine exactly what reason her grandfather would have to talk to Usagi, Minako and Ami's mothers and failed. It was obvious that it involved all four of them is some way and possibly Makoto as well given how much time they all spent in each other's company but beyond that she drew a blank. So secure was she in belief that their identities as Sailor Senshi were secure the thought that someone might have possibly found them out simply never crossed her mind. That belief was about to be shattered however.

Amuro took the quizzical look on Rei's face to be all the answer and ploughed on ahead. "You see I discovered that recently that you girls had been hiding something from us, something very important. I thought it would be everyone's best interest if their parents found out about it. If I had known who to contact I would have talked to Makoto's guardian but that's neither here nor there. What's important is that they know now."

Frustrated with her grandfather's cryptic remarks Rei's temper began to rise. If she was in trouble she would at least like to know what she was in trouble about. "What are you talking about?" she demanded.

"Why, not telling us that you were the Sailor Senshi," Amuro said in a calm, matter of fact tone.

The rising flames of Rei's temper were extinguished under a sudden icy shock. "That we're what?" she asked, not quite believing her ears.

Amuro sighed. "The Sailor Senshi," he said with what he thought was remarkable patience. "You know, running around Tokyo in short skirts defeating monsters and things like that."

"How did you find out?" Rei asked weakly, really wishing that there was something in arm's reach that she could grab hold of to steady herself as her legs threatened to give way.

"It wasn't easy," Amuro admitted. "I had to call in several favours with the police but I was finally able to put all the pieces together just the other day. I'll admit I was a bit surprised at first but when I thought about it everything just seemed to fit together. Of course I had to let the other's parents know…"

"You WHAT!" Rei roared, shock and surprise vanishing in a surge of righteous fury. "_You_ found out and just decided to spill the information to everyone!"

Amuro was no stranger to Rei's temper and wasn't about to be intimidated by. "Hardly everyone!" he snapped back. "Only those who had a right to know!"

"Did you ever think for just one moment that we might have had a reason for not telling anyone who we were?" she demanded, temper rising further. "Did you pause for even a minute, even a _second_, to consider what might happen to us if our secrets ever got out? What sort of danger you might have put yourself in? What sort of danger you might have put Aino-san, Tsukino-san and Mizuno-sensei in? They're even less equipped to defend themselves than you are and Zoicite could have torn you apart if he had really wanted to!"

Amuro had expected this response and even considered keeping the information to himself because of it but ultimately decided against it. "Be that as it may," he replied as evenly as possible, "they are responsible adults who are fully capable of looking after themselves and making decisions of this magnitude. Presumably," he added thinking for a moment of Minako's mother.

While that was a rational decision operating on the information available to him Rei was in no mood to concede even that much to her grandfather. "Look after themselves!" she scoffed. "You don't have the faintest hint of exactly how dangerous some of the beings we've faced have been! If it hadn't been for us this world could have been destroyed several times over! Or worse!"

"If it's really so dangerous than they deserved to know even more!" Amuro countered, his own temper rising. "Would you really leave us, leave me not knowing what happened to you if you got killed!"

"Better that than see this world over run by Metallia's Dark Kingdom or Nehelenia's Black Moon Circus! A million times better than seeing the Doom Phantom, Pharaoh 90 or Galaxia destroy this world and every living thing on it! I have laid down my life for this world and I would do it a third time, gladly."

Amuro assumed that Rei meant that she had come two close calls with death which only made him madder as they validated the point he was trying to make to his granddaughter and that was probably for the best. Had he realised that Rei meant that she had died twice he probably would have gotten even angrier and done something that he would have truly regretted. As it was his temper was fully up and while slower to anger than Rei his temper burned just as fiercely as hers.

"Why!" he demanded, his voice startling the birds in the trees, even Phobos and Deimos who were more or less accustomed to Rei's outbursts. He pointed an accusing finger as he continued. "I know you granddaughter; I've just about raised you on my own! I know you well enough that you wouldn't put yourself at such a risk for some faceless stranger on the street so don't give me any of this for the sake of the planet stuff."

"I do it for her!" Rei shot back. "I do it because the Princess asks me to! I would lay my life down a thousand times over to spare her the slightest pain and I would gladly charge the gates of the underworld itself if she asked it of me!"

"Even over your own family?"

Rei's voice dropped from the full throated shout that had been using but her voice lost none of its intensity. If anything it became even more intense and the light in her eyes was caused by something more potent than rage making them shine even brighter. "Even over every other living thing on Earth if it came to that though she would never ask it of us for which we can only love her even more for it!"

Amuro grit his teeth almost hard enough to crack the enamel of them but he ploughed on. "Who is this Princess who would cause you to turn against your own family?" he demanded. "Who's the one so much more important to you than the ones who raised you and care for you?"

"You already know her!" Rei shot back. "Usagi, Sailor Moon, _Serenity_, call her what you will."

"_HER?_" Amuro's voice got even louder in shock. From all he had heard of Sailor Moon while she might have been the one who usually dealt the finishing blow to the various creatures that the Sailor Senshi fought otherwise she seemed to be something of a joke. Clumsy, over emotional and barely able to hold two thoughts in her head his ire rose in offended outrage that his granddaughter who he held so dear despite everything else would choose loyalty to such a person over her own flesh and blood. "You would choose that… that… that…" Words failed him. "That _person_ over your own flesh and blood!"

It was obvious by the way her entire body went rigid that Rei's anger had returned to the fore, burning hotter and brighter than before. "Don't you _dare_ judge her!" she screamed. "You have no right to say _anything_ about her! You couldn't possibly understand what she has seen, what she has done, what she has had to suffer because we were not strong enough to protect her. She earned our loyalty, our devotion a thousand times over simply by being who she is."

Amuro was not about to be stopped though. Had he been calmer and thinking more clearly he might have seen the hole he was digging himself into but in so many ways he and his granddaughter were too much alike. When angry they both thought more with their hearts than their heads and by this point they were so consumed by rage that angry did not begin to do justice to their emotional states. Calm rational thought had not only flown out the window but picked itself up of the ground outside and made a mad dash for safety and so Amuro continued on, not unaware of the risks of confronting Rei like this but heedless of them none the less.

"Obviously this whole foolishness has gone on for far too long. I was happy that you were making friends but if I had known it was going to come to this I would have forbidden you from seeing them much earlier. As it is all I can be thankful is that unlike Aino-san and Mizuno-sensei at least I won't have to worry about you seeing them at school."

"_NO!_" she snapped in a voice that seemed to make the whole world shudder and fall silent for a long moment. In that moment that could have been an eternity to those involved Rei's hand rose from her side until it was level with her shoulder, her palm held outward and fingers spread wide as it rose. As her hand stopped rising a flash of red appeared in front of it, resolving into a red and orange pen with a red crystal globe inscribed for the astrological symbol for Mars embedded in it. Before it could fall Rei's hand gripped it and she disappeared in a wave of flame.

The flames were only there for a heartbeat, too short a time for Amuro to react, only able to look on as they whipped away to reveal the glory and the fury that was Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Mars. Had he known a bit more about the Sailor Senshi he would have been even more amazed by the speed with which Rei had transformed and the fact that she had done so in total silence. Still the visage was more than impressive enough for her transformation seemed to give physical expression to Rei's anger, the heat pounding off her in waves.

"_No!_" she repeated, not as loud as before but just as intensely. "I am sworn to my Princess by oaths and bonds that no even death can sunder. I have failed her not once but twice and even if I spend until the end of time atoning for that failure it will not be enough. I can not and will not allow you to stop me from doing what I must do." A faint tear slid down one cheek and with that Rei turned and fled, her transformation dissolving as she hit the top step.

Amuro's world came crashing down around him as the top of Rei's head disappeared from his sight and the full impact of what had just happened hit him. All he could do for nearly a minute was stare dumbly at the empty space where his granddaughter had just been, hoping, praying, needing to believe that what had just happened was some horrible dream that he would wake from any moment and see Rei still standing in front of him. Unfortunately he was too honest with himself to know that what had happened was horribly real. He was also honest enough in heart of hearts that the lion's share of the blame for what had just occurred was his fault. He had made a mistake, in his granddaughter's eyes if no one else's and he had only compounded it with mistake upon mistake. He also knew that someway, somehow things needed to be set right and that he would have to make the first move before it was too late.

He ran after Rei, desperate to catch up to her but before he had gone more than a few steps something tripped him up and he went sprawling into the hard cobblestones. He managed to catch himself before smashing into the ground face first and the thick material of his clothes protected him from several potentially nasty scraps but the impact was still enough to stun him. He paused for several seconds and then rolled over to see what it was that had tripped him up.

The culprit was easy enough to see, it was kind of hard to miss a long, ornate metal staff that seemed to be rather reminiscent of a key in its design or the woman who was holding it though he had no idea where the staff or the woman had come from because they hadn't been their moments before. Whoever the woman was she was obviously one of the Senshi, she could hardly be anything else with the costume she was wearing though even in his rather befuddled state Amuro noticed several differences that distinguished her costume from the one he has seen Rei in just moments before, including, but not limited to the lack of sleeves on the one the mysterious woman wore.

He struggled to get to his feet but the strange woman said "SIT!" in a voice that would accept no disobedience and was cold enough to chase away the last shred's of Amuro's anger and replace them with a chill in the blood.

"My name," she continued in the same cold tone of voice, "or at least the only one you need to know, is Sailor Pluto. I am the Guardian of the Gates of Time and I am here with a warning. I allowed this plan of yours to proceed because it has the potential to yield benefits in the future but proceed no further. Already you have placed on Senshi in peril and wounded another deeper than you can possibly understand. You have done enough and any more, especially now, and you would do irreparable harm, both to the future and to the heart of one you hold most dear."

"But Rei… I have to make things right!" he insisted.

"That you feel so, especially after the words that just passed between you and her, does you credit but now is not the time. Rei better than most knows what is said in anger may not what is truly meant and she will forgive, in time. But for both your sakes let her make the first move."

"But she was so angry. Are you sure she'll come back?"

Pluto backed off a step, letting Amuro get to his feet, a faint wistful smile on her face. "Your granddaughter cares more deeply than even those closest to her realised. Even if you don't trust her, trust in our Princess. I know you think little of her but she might surprise you. She still manages to surprise even me occasionally after all."

With that she turned her back and as quickly as she had arrived she was gone, leaving Amuro alone in the shrine with only the wind for company and wondering how everything had gone so very, very wrong.

Author's Notes: Well, well, well, another chapter (finally) finished. And thanks to Lessien Sharpwind. Your e-mail arrived at just the right time to prod Muse-chan into action and finish this chapter off.

After this chapter I had originally intended to move into a section dealing with the aftermath of what happened, especially with what's happened Minako and Rei but part of the reason this chapter took so long is that I've been playing around with the idea of moving them into a sequel story in which case I might want to change the end of this chapter around a little. Readers thoughts on the whether to continue as a single story or break it off into a sequel are appreciated.

Either way with any luck I might be able to get the next chapter ready to go sooner than this one and maybe even complete the third chapter of my Ranma fic for those following that as well.

No promises though.


End file.
